COLLATERAL CASUALTIES (The Kate Huntington mystery series) (28 page)

            “Okay, I’ll track down Browning, but I still need to talk to Skip. His prints are all over that gun, and nobody else’s. Somebody steals a gun, you’d think they’d handle it some, then maybe wipe it clean after they use it in a crime.”

            “Or they use gloves so they can frame Skip for the crime. Skip and his wife were friends with Janice Browning. They helped her get her stuff out of the condo when she left her husband. From what I heard, it got nasty. Browning called the police, tried to get them arrested for breaking and entering. There should be a report on that call–”

            “When was that?”

            “I’m not sure. Early last week. Anyway, there’s no love lost between Browning and Skip at this point.”

            “How would Browning get his hands on Skip’s gun?”

            “Don’t have an answer for that one.”

            “Dolph, I’m getting real tired of repeating myself. I need to talk to Skip. Get his involvement, if any, cleared up so I can focus on finding the killer.”

            “What’s the TOD?”

            Judith sighed loudly into the phone. “Don’t have one yet. Autopsy hasn’t been done.”

            “Okay, but I’ll bet you’ve got a general sense of when it went down. When was the kid found?”

            “Around four Saturday afternoon. Shop owner took out some trash. Kid was behind his dumpster. Grandma hadn’t seen him since breakfast, so we’ve got a real big window there.”

            “We talked to the kid about eleven. That narrows your window some.”

            “Also puts your boss at the scene.”

            “I can alibi him for the rest of the day.”

            “Every minute?”

            “Almost, and into the evening.”

            Big sigh again. “I
still
need to talk to him. Find him and tell him to come in.”

            “I will, but could you cancel the BOLO? I don’t want some overzealous rookie thinking he’s a murder suspect and maybe shooting him. He’s working another case today. I’ll see if I can track him down, have him call you. Then he can come in tomorrow if you need him to.”

            “Okay, I’ll cancel the BOLO but if I haven’t heard from him by morning, it goes back on.”

~~~~~~~

            At the department store in Middletown, Rose was working hard to keep from tapping her foot while Rob picked out a small TV and then Sue mulled over the selection of board games. When they got to the toasters, she’d had enough. She grabbed the cheapest one off the shelf. “Let’s go.”

            In the grocery store parking lot, Rob stayed in the car to call Liz. Lilly got out and leaned against the front fender, scanning the lot.

            Rose and Sue quickly filled a cart with the essentials they would need for the next couple days, keeping in mind their limited capacity for keeping perishables cold. At the checkout counter, Sue slid her credit card through the machine.

            “It didn’t work,” the clerk said. “Try again.”

            She did.

            “Sorry, ma’am. It’s saying the card’s not good.”

            Sue frowned. “Damn it, they did it to me again. What part of ‘I use this card for travel’ don’t they understand?”

            Rose dug in her pocket. Kate had given her the rest of the cash, just in case. “Here, this should cover it.” She didn’t want the clerk to remember them.

            Once they were out of the store, Sue said, “That damn card company. They did that to me before. I used the card outside of Maryland and their dumb computer immediately flagged it as a possible fraudulent charge and blocked the card. I thought I had it straightened out, though. Now what do we do for cash?”

            Rob had gotten out of the car to help load the groceries. “I’ve got my debit card with me.”

            Rose shook her head. “No, you’re too involved. They may be watching for activity on your account.”

            “Does it really matter whose card we use,” Rob said, “this far away from the shack.”

            Rose weighed the pros and cons for a moment. “Maybe not, but we’ll use my card.” She headed for the ATM machine outside the grocery store.

~~~~~~~

            Dolph had intentionally lingered in town to give Kate and Skip some privacy. He’d done some window shopping at a travel agency. It was closed on Sunday, but he wrote down the website from the cruise line poster in the window. He figured when this whole mess was finally over, it wouldn’t hurt to take his Susie on a real vacation, to mend the marital fences.

            When he got back to the shack, he told Skip and Kate about his conversation with Judith. “You need to call her, son. Try to appease her so she doesn’t insist you come in.”

            “I’d like to check on my client,” Kate said. “We could drive back over the bridge to Annapolis, call from there.”

            Rose walked in the door with a load of groceries. The others straggled in behind her, laden with packages. “Who’s calling who from where?”

            Dolph filled her in on the police investigation.

            “You’d better not take your truck,” Rose said to Skip. “Just in case some local cop heard the BOLO earlier and recognizes it.”

~~~~~~~

            Lilly volunteered to take them in her pick-up. After they’d crossed the Bay Bridge, she took the first exit for Annapolis and pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant.

            Skip called Judith Anderson’s cell number that Dolph had given him.

            “Hi, Judith. Skip Canfield. Dolph said you wanted to talk to me.”

            “Yeah, did he tell you why?”

            “I can’t believe those bastards killed that kid!”

            “And which bastards would those be, Mr. Canfield?”

            “Uh, does this mean I have to call you Detective Anderson? I thought we’d moved beyond that.”

            “
Which
bastards, Canfield?”

            “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be cute. The ones that killed Janice Browning.”

            “I thought you suspected the husband. That’s only one bastard.”

            “Yeah, well, we’re not sure it’s him. Janice is... uh, was a criminal lawyer. She had enemies. It just seemed like a rather huge coincidence that she was killed right after she left Richard. And to steal Dolph’s favorite line, I’m allergic to coincidences. It’s also occurred to us that Richard could’ve hired somebody. Personally I don’t think he’s got the, uh, guts to do it himself.”

            That elicited a slight chuckle. “You can say
balls
to me.”

            “Yeah, but I’m in the car with... one of my female investigators.” He’d almost slipped and said he was with his wife, which wouldn’t jive with what he was about to tell Judith. “I try not to cuss in front of ladies.”

            Lilly looked at Skip over Kate’s head. She arched an eyebrow at him.

            He managed to fake a touch of laughter in his voice. “From the expression on my investigator’s face, she dislikes being called a lady.”

            He breathed a bit easier when Judith chuckled again. “Skip, I really need to talk to you, in person. There are a couple other details I need to clear up.”

            “Uh, that could be difficult. I’m out of town at the moment working another case, and I’m undercover. Even as far away as Baltimore County, I can’t afford to be seen going into a police station. It would blow my credibility with the low-lifes I’m trying to cultivate.”

            “We could meet away from the station,” Judith said. She named a diner frequented by police officers.

            Skip stifled a sigh. He’d hoped to avoid a face-to-face meeting. But maybe he could at least control the location. “Too much of a cop hangout. How about Mac’s Place, across from the courthouse? And it’s my treat. My thanks for your help on that case last year.”

            “Okay. What time?”

            “Uh, let me coordinate with the, uh, non-lady.” He put his thumb over the cell’s tiny mouthpiece. “What time is your depressed client coming in tomorrow?” he asked Kate.

            “Eleven.”

            Into the phone, he said, “One o’clock?”

            “Yeah, I can make that work.”

            “Okay, I’ll see you there. If I’m late, it means I’ve picked up a tail that I had to shake first.”

            “See ya tomorrow.”

            After Skip disconnected, Kate asked, “Are you sure it’s safe to meet with her?”

            “Yeah, because I’m going to have several of our people nearby, just in case Delgado’s gang shows up. And if they do, it’ll be handy to have a police detective right there to arrest them.”

            “What if she tries to arrest
you
?”

            “Highly unlikely at this point,” Skip said. “We’ll get out and give you some privacy so you can call your client.”

            He and Lilly climbed out of the truck and walked down several cars. They stood facing each other so it would look like they were having a conversation, but they could see anyone approaching the truck from any direction.

            “We should pretend to be talking,” Skip said.

            Lilly took a deep breath. “Did Rose tell you I screwed up?”

            “What do you mean?” Skip responded absently, scanning the parking lot.

            “I left my post, when Mrs. Browning’s bed arrived. I went inside to make sure the deliverymen were on the up-and-up. And I should’ve questioned her about the wine.”

            “Did she say anything about it being a gift?”

            “No, she just waved the bottle at me and asked if I wanted to join her in a glass.”

            “Lilly, you didn’t do anything wrong–”

            “I didn’t do much right either. She died on my watch.”

            Skip glanced at her. There was anger in her eyes, anger at herself. He went back to scanning the parking lot, while trying to think of something reassuring to say. “You had no reason to suspect anything about the wine.”

            “I should’ve–”

            Skip cut her off. “How do you think I feel? Kate and I dragged Janice into this mess to begin with.” He glanced her way again, then softened his tone. “But as Rose keeps pointing out, none of us created the mess, we’re just trying to deal with it.”

            Lilly didn’t look convinced. She turned away from him, toward her truck. “I think Kate’s finished her call.”

~~~~~~~

            On the way back to the Eastern Shore, Kate’s mind was working on the logistics for the next day. “I don’t remember exactly who I’ve got scheduled tomorrow afternoon,” she told Skip. “I need my appointment book which is in my briefcase, which is in my car. And I just realized I have no idea where my car is.”

            “Rose left it in a visitor’s space at Mrs. Browning’s building,” Lilly said.

            “I also need a shower before I see clients, and the two office outfits I have with me are not only dirty, they’ve been slept in.”

            “There’s a laundromat near the Acme in Chestertown,” Lilly said.

            “That solves the clothing part of the problem. But how can I get a shower? You could use one too, Skip.” Kate waved her hand in front of her nose. “Washing up in that tiny basin in the bathroom can only go so far.”

            “What, you don’t like my new aftershave,
eau de
two-day-old sweat?” He grinned down at her.

            She grinned back in relief. He seemed to be getting his emotional equilibrium back, again.

            “We actually have a shower,” he said. “Sort of. I didn’t bother to mention it ’cause I didn’t think you’d want to use it.”

            Kate cocked an eyebrow at him. “What does ‘sort of’ mean?”

            “Very, very basic. As in garden hose duct-taped to a tree branch.”

            Lilly snorted. “That’s pretty basic.”

            “I’m just desperate enough to use it. Lilly, could you stop at the Acme so I can get some shampoo?”

            “Sure thing.”

            At the cabin, all were delighted to hear that a shower was an option. Enthusiasm dimmed somewhat when they learned they would be standing naked outside under a garden hose.

            In less than an hour everyone had showered. No one lingered under the cold spray. Once the dirty clothes and towels were gathered up, Rose and Kate headed for town with two of the guards.

            At the laundromat, Manny got out and wandered down a couple stores, then leaned nonchalantly against a pole. He was watching for overdressed Hispanics. The other guard stayed in his car, also scanning the parking lot.

            Kate and Rose loaded the laundry into several machines, then sat down to wait.

            Rose shifted awkwardly in her seat, then cleared her throat. “Uh, how’s Skip doing?”

            Kate hid a smile. Discussing emotions was not Rose’s favorite thing to do. “I think he’s okay now. Or at least on his way to being okay.”

            They sat in silence for a few minutes while Kate debated with herself. Finally, she said, “Please don’t tell him I talked to you about this, but I’m starting to think he’s in the wrong profession. It hits him so hard when someone he perceives as an innocent is hurt or killed.”

            Rose pondered that. Kate waited patiently, used to her thoughtful silences.

            “I can’t imagine what else he’d do. It’s all he knows. And the fact that he cares so much, it makes him a better investigator. I’ve never seen him just go through the motions, not even when a case is fairly routine.”

            “I just worry,” Kate said, “that one of these times, he’s not going to spring back.”

            “He will. As long as he has you.”

            “Rose, I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I appreciate our friendship.”

            “Aw crap, Kate! Don’t go gettin’ mushy on me.”

            “For Pete’s sake, just accept the sentiment and say thank you.” Kate smiled to take the sting out of her stern tone.